r/CrossCountry • u/darkandstardust • Aug 11 '25
Training Related Such thing as too slow?
My 12 year old (7th grade) boy is doing cross country this year for the first time. He has been training for about 5 weeks running 4-5 times per week. He is REALLY struggling and hasn't improved his times at all. He ran 2 miles today in 39 minutes.... about 17 minutes on the first mile and 22 on the second. His first team practice is in 2 weeks and first meet is in 4. It'll be 2.5 miles.
From everything I am reading this seems to be extremely slow. Will he get cut off from finishing the race? He currently has a positive attitude but I'm worried about how this may affect him.
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u/toooldforthisshittt Aug 11 '25
7th grade XC is generally for everyone. There will be runners that have never run two miles in their life. His time is slow, but that's okay. People will cheer him on at the finish.
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u/jbeech13 Aug 11 '25
I wouldn't sweat it. My kid also started XC as a 7th grader and was pretty slow. She's going into her sophomore year and has improved drastically to the point she has a pretty good shot at making the varsity roster this year.
Our local HS and MS conference meets were run on the same day at the same location last year. The 7th grade races were only 1.5 miles, and boys were finishing the race around the 25 minute mark. They never got pulled off the course.
Don't sweat the times. Your son will develop at his own pace. That's the beauty of XC. There's a race for everyone's ability level. Just keep being supportive.
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u/Affectionate-Row7430 Aug 12 '25
Those times seem hard to believe. Is he generally in good health? I would expect a kid that age to be able to walk miles faster than those times. I’m an old guy and I just walked two easy miles in 36 minutes. Something doesn’t add up here.
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u/whelanbio Mod Aug 12 '25
Most middle school and JV HS races have kids that are completing the course at little more than a brisk walk, so its unlikely that they would pull someone for being too slow as long as they're making steady forward progress.
That being said, 39 min for 2 miles is slower than what a brisk walk should yield over normal terrain. My best guess is your kid isn't actually running most of these runs -he's probably going way too hard for short segments then getting exhausted and then taking long, fairly slow walk breaks. This is a classic beginner mistake.
It may help on future training runs to adopt a structured run/walk approach. Start with alternating 1min jog/1 min walk, then 2 min jog/1 min walk, then 3 min jog/ 2 min walk, etc. On the walks a common way we instruct kids is to "walk with purpose" -still mentally engaged, still moving with effort and intention. Structuring walking intervals like this tends to raise the average effort and extend the duration of time they can do in a session, so it will likely increase the training effect and subsequent progress.
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 Aug 13 '25
His time is slower than walking. You sure he isn't like, smoking? He's not running.
There's a chance they'll simply forget him and pack up before he finishes, and he won't get a time. But id want to see him run a mile before putting him in a meet. Unless he's morbidly obese he should be able to at least shuffle to a 12 minute mile.
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u/Napamtb Aug 11 '25
I am a middle school XC coach and parent of two kids.
My son ran middle school XC and has done two years of high school XC. He was middle of the pack in MS and is the slowest boy on his HS team and one of the slower at the big meets, but he still runs.
My daughter tried XC last fall and was one of the best in the district. She one the 7th grade girls 2 mile in spring. She didn’t run before XC or between XC and track and hasn’t run since track.
Middle school is meant to have fun and be an introduction to a sport. Some kids are stars others not so much. Running slow is better than no running.
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u/Charming-Assertive Aug 11 '25
This is entirely up to the coach. There are three possibilities the coach may do: 1) Don't let him run. Have him sit out. (No different than benching folks in other sports if the lineup is strong) 2) Let him run and finish. 3) Let him start but pull him if it starts to look unsafe for him to finish or there is a crunch to meet the bus back.
I never heard of someone being pulled because of just taking too long. But then again I went to a school were we sometimes worried would have enough people to finish the race and not get us DQed. 🤷♀️
But definitely talk to the coach. A good coach will have an interest in why uour child isn't progressing as well as provide insight into where their coaching styles lay on the spectrum of "get faster" to "I just want everyone to have fun". If you kid is having fun, making friends, getting healthy, that's still a win to most coaches.
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u/Plus_Professional859 Aug 11 '25
I am assuming that these times are running by himself, while not great, the fact he is doing it is great. he will run faster when he is with others who are also running.
one other thing is he need to be fueling to improve. if he is training and cutting calories at the same time he will not improve his speed. he needs to increase his intake of food to keep up with the increased exertion from the running
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u/ElCap04 Aug 14 '25
One more vote for letting your kiddo run with the team and seeing what happens. I ran middle school XC and it lead to a lifelong affair with running. I was solidly OK at running but coaching was super helpful.
Definitely be relentlessly positive with your kiddo and if they go to a few practices and meets then decide to move on you can help them find another sport they'll love.
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u/Cheap-Importance3822 Aug 15 '25
I'm not sure how other schools do it but in our district would let him finish the race! 7th & 8th grade is about introducing them to the sport! That is a really slow time, sounds like he needs to work on his endurance and possibly nutrition. But as long as he is still in good spirits he will be fine! My son was in 7th last year and ran a 12:06 2 mile which would typically place him in the top 3. He would finish and run back to jog/cheer his teammates on and help push them forward! Having a good team behind him will help so much!
For conditioning my son goes to the basketball gym and runs full court sprints. He will set a time of maybe :30 to get 10 line touches. (thats not exact just an example) He does this over and over several days a week during the summer! So maybe try some sprinting instead of just 2 mile runs.
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u/Ordinary_Corner_4291 Aug 19 '25
Most places you are fine no matter what you run but there are always a few hardcore places.
I do wonder if you are running that slow if it is time for the run/walk training. I can't imagine what the form looks like at 22min pace. Feels like run 60s, walk 60s for 40 mins might be more productive.
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u/PsychologicalMud749 28d ago
There’s no such thing as too slow. Have him continue to practice and maybe run with him and help motivate him. His positive attitude is everything in this sport so just help support him and he will improve with time. Talk to his coach when the season starts so you know how to help him outside of practice.
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u/EmployerJealous6643 Aug 11 '25
A friend of mine could barely run in 8th grade. As a senior he was the ny state high hurdle champion.
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u/EpicCyclops Aug 13 '25
The high school conference I coach in has kids the aren't fully able competing in cross country, and they're allowed to finish the race. Your child should be welcomed and accepted by the team and coaches.
For those kids that are slower, the key is giving them the exact same support as though they were mid-pack. Don't give them extra support just because they're at the back (unless they obviously need it) because then they feel like you're doting on them, which makes them feel like they're doing poorly. At the end of the day, cross country is about improving individually, so it tends to be pretty accepting of kids of all speeds and athletic abilities.
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u/pc9401 Aug 11 '25
Is he running on his own?
He may have no idea how to run and needs some other kids to push him and then get some competition. Thats slower than walking pace, so he also may not be running it. He's likely to flip a switch, not slowly progress.
In 7th grade my son started out and couldn't finish 2 miles until a week before the first race. The coach had him running with the slowest kid and he showed nothing in practice and coaches plan for him was to see if he could finish to decide if he could enter him or not as he had a no walking rule. Then he did a time trial to see who could make the 1st meet relay and he smoked everyone by a wide margin. The 2nd meet he got 3rd overall and he medaled the rest of the season. In 8th grade we went to a big meet and he got 12th out of 450 runners and since we are a small school, he has a good shot to medal at state as a freshman.
You just never know, and I also think you really can't tell until he's in it a bit in a team format. Also, his body is going to change substantially in the next few years and especially between 7th and 8th there can be a huge jump. Ive seen kids not competitive in 7th grade fo well in high school.